Meredith Jaffé – facilitator, reviewer and soon to be a published writer

Since we asked Meredith to be one of our facilitators, she has signed a contract for her first book, The Fence, with Pan Macmillan and has just been appointed Book Critic for The Guardian Australia. This woman is going places!

Q. Have you always been a writer? Did you write stories as a child or did the pull to write come later?

A. As a child, like most writers, I was an avid reader. Enid Blyton was a foundation stone, I loved K.M Peyton’s Flambards series, Elyne Mitchell’s Silver Brumby series and longed to be Jill from the Ruby Ferguson’s Jill pony series (are you noticing an obsession with horses here?) As I grew older, I started with My Family and Other Animals and proceeded to read all of Gerald Durrell’s books about his adventures collecting animals for zoos. Agatha Christie was a favourite too and I can say that I still own all of these books. They take up satisfying slabs of space on my bookshelves.

My own writing was limited to bad poetry and creative writing assignments for school. I didn’t seriously consider writing until my 40s.

Q. What was your pre-writing professional life?

A. I did want to be a writer when I graduated from Uni but my parents advised me to get a “real” job. I spent all my pre-0writing life working in the financial services industry. Administration, client services, product and marketing management and then a long stretch in recruitment.

Q. How did you make the move into writing?

A. I met Wendy Harmer via our husbands who were involved in saving the local surf club from redevelopment. Over lunch, I told her I had started writing a novel (clearly wine was involved—what was I thinking?) This was after the birth of my third child and I was writing because it was now or never. Otherwise, I’d have to go back to my “real” job once my maternity leave had finished. Wendy liked the idea of my story and offered to read the first 2,000 words. She did and told me to keep going.

Q. Tell us about the Hoopla (sadly no longer in existence)

A. Not long after that lunch, Wendy told me she wanted to start an online women’s magazine—written by women, for women. More importantly (for me) she asked me if I’d like to write for the magazine. I answered that with a resounding YES!! At first, I wrote general op ed pieces but about six months after The Hoopla launched, the editorial team asked me to write a proposal for a book page. For four years, I was the editor of The Bookshelf, The Hoopla’s literary column.

It is sad The Hoopla is no more. It changed the online journalism environment with its progressive approach to content and by challenging the status quo. But it also provided career opportunities to many women writers, myself included.

Q. You’re involved in the Footpath Library. What is the Footpath Library and why is it important?

A. The Footpath Library started when one woman, founder Sarah Garnett, began handing out books to homeless people in Sydney. It’s a library where you don’t need a fixed address or have to return the books. Most people don’t realise that a lot of homeless people love to read; as much as an escape from their real lives as well as a way of passing the hours during the night when it is safer to read than to sleep. The Footpath Library now services homeless clients in most Australian capital cities, including women’s refuges and homeless shelters. It’s proof that the love of reading transcends personal circumstances and economic well being.

Q. From literary reviewing and interviewing authors to writing your own novel looks like a big step. How did you take it?

A. It’s not as big a step as it seems. Every writer tells aspiring authors that in order to write well you must read broadly. Being paid to read is a great excuse to read the best contemporary writers and from that experience, almost by osmosis, your own writing improves. And, of course, interviewing bestselling authors is a unique opportunity to delve into their minds and find out how they do it. I think the most important influence though is having to meet weekly deadlines and a strict word count. Reviewing makes you think about a book critically, not just whether you liked it or not. It’s hard not to become a better writer with all these factors at play.

Q. Can you tell us a little about The Fence?

A. The Fence will be published by Pan Macmillan in the latter half of 2016. It’s about a lot of things—fences and what they mean, bad neighbours, career women, house husbands, growing old and illusion of having it all. There is also a lot of cake and gardening tips!